J. C. Lamster was the Dutch author whose writings on Atjeh and on van Heutsz supplied du Croo with the framework of two chapters of Generaal Swart: the description of van Heutsz’s operational method and the survey of the pacifying administrative work of 1908–1918.
Works cited
- Atjeh voor en na de pacificatie, in the Haagsch Maandblad, 1928.
- Atjeh, in the Haagsch Maandblad, May 1938, pp. 495–496.
- Het daghet in den Oosten, in the Indische Gids, 1938.
- J. B. van Heutsz.
On van Heutsz’s method
Lamster described the operational consequence of the new course of 1898: “Thus independent columns could act against the enemy at full strength for days on end — up to a full week — without having to fritter away a part of their force on a line of operations that was as a rule idle. Later the days during which an independent column acted uninterruptedly became weeks, and the weeks became months. Provisions were then taken for only five or six days, and the rest was bought on the way or, in wholly hostile territory, foraged.”
On the pacifying administrative work
Du Croo built his chapter on the pacifying administrative work on Lamster’s survey in the Haagsch Maandblad: “While one heavy blow after another was being dealt to the resistance party, and while the constabulary patrols were tracking down and rendering harmless the last irreconcilable oelamas into the remotest wildernesses and the deepest hiding-places, the pacification was already in full swing in the subjected districts.”
Lamster described the treatment of the returning uitgewekenen, the caution of not troubling the newly submitted with novelties, the small interest-free advances from the volkscredietbank, the extension of the Atjehtram to Deli, the preparation of the Gajòweg for motor traffic, the replacement of muddy paths by gravelled kampoeng paths planted with shade trees, and the endless work of administrators and patrols in improving the neglected and unhygienic kampoengs.
On method he wrote: “In entirely new districts, consultation was first held with the chiefs and the population. When weighty decisions have to be taken, there is nothing on which the Acehnese sets so much store as on moefakat (deliberation to consensus). The administrator who knows how to make skilful use of this, and who takes the trouble to talk for hours where necessary even with the simplest village man, almost always achieves a good result in the end. Little by little the population itself began to see the advantage of more regulated conditions, of pleasant villages with neatly maintained roads; it began to take pleasure in co-operating in all these improvements.”
Lamster also recorded van Heutsz’s solution of the teacher problem for volksonderwijs, quoted at length by du Croo.
Entry in the Maréchaussée register of honours (1930)
The Overzicht van Onderscheidingen printed in the 1930 jubilee number of Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië records under 1905 the award to 1ste Luit. Mar. J. C. Lamster of the knight’s cross of the Militaire Willems-Orde 4th class, together with Kapts. Mar. K. van der Maaten and M. W. E. van Bloemen Waanders.
See Also
- Maurice Henri du Croo
- Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz
- Het Pacificeerende Bestuurswerk 1908-1918
- Gotfried Coenraad Ernst van Daalen
- Volksonderwijs in Atjeh
- Haagsch Maandblad
- Overzicht van Onderscheidingen toegekend aan het Korps Maréchaussée in Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden (1890-1930)
- Het Korps Maréchaussée in Atjeh (Jubileum-nummer 1930)
- Militaire Willemsorde
Source
Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), Chapter III, p. 19; Chapter XIII, pp. 130–134; List of works consulted, p. 177.
Het Korps Maréchaussée in Atjeh: De Atjehsche Garde, 1890 - 2 April 1930 (“The Corps of Maréchaussée in Atjeh: The Atjehnese Guard”), Extra Jubileum-nummer of Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië issued for the fortieth anniversary of the corps (1930), pp. 1-16. Offprint DLP-143, Bibliotheek KITLV, accession 621 116 794.